Ousted Yanukovych wants legal assessment of U.S.' Ukraine plans

Ukraine's fugitive president Viktor Yanukovych speaks during the press conference in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, March 11, 2014. Yanukovych said that he remained Ukraine's legitimate president and commander-in-chief, saying he believed he would be able to return to Kiev soon.(Xinhua/Oleg)

MOSCOW, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych said Tuesday he would ask U.S. Congress and Supreme Court to give a legal assessment of the U.S. government's actions concerning his country.

"The United States plans to allocate 1 billion U.S. dollars to that bandit regime, which contradicts U.S. laws," Yanukovych told reporters in Russia's southwest port of Rostov-on-Don.

Branding the current situation in Ukraine as "neo-fascist lawlessness and eve of civil war," he insisted that the so-called presidential elections due in May were illegitimate.

Yanukovych said he remained the only legitimate president of Ukraine and commander-in-chief, but was forced to leave the country as "they tried to use terrorist actions against me."

"The United States says I've lost legitimacy because I fled the country. But everybody knows I was in Ukraine: in the cities of Donetsk and Kharkov," Yanukovych said, adding that once circumstances permitted, he would return to Kiev. "It won't take long," he said.

He said he believed the economic situation in Ukraine would deteriorate soon, but "I have nothing to do with that."

Yanukovych, whose last public appearance was in the same city at a press conference on Feb. 28, did not answer any questions from reporters at the scene after the 10-minute statement.

His address also did not cover the Crimea referendum over its future status, which is due on March 16.

MOSCOW, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday Russia had drawn up proposals for solving the Ukraine crisis within a legislative framework, while Western countries threatened further sanctions on Russia.

The proposals would "put the situation on the basis of international law" and take into account all Ukrainian interests, said Lavrov when briefing Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi.Full story

WASHINGTON, March 10 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama spoke separately with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev on the Ukrainian situation, the White House said Monday.

Obama and Rajoy agreed on the need for direct dialogue between Ukraine and Russia to de-escalate the situation and restore Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, the White House said in a statement.Full story